Munich air disaster

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The '''Munich air disaster''' occurred on 6 February 1958, when [[British European Airways]] Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off at [[Munich-Riem Airport]] in [[Munich]], [[West Germany]]. The aircraft was carrying the [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] [[association football|football]] team, nicknamed the "[[Busby Babes]]", along with supporters and journalists.<ref>{{cite video |year=1958 |title=Video: Britain Mourns. Soccer Champs Die In Plane Crash, 1958/02/10 (1958) |url=https://archive.org/details/1958-02-10_Britain_Mourns |publisher=[[Universal Newsreel]] |access-date=20 February 2012 }}</ref> There were 44 people on board, 20 of whom died at the scene. The injured, some unconscious, were taken to Munich's [[Rechts der Isar Hospital]], where three more died, resulting in 23 fatalities, with 21 survivors.

The '''Munich air disaster''' occurred on 6 February 1958, when '''[[British European Airways]] Flight 609''' crashed on its third attempt to take off at [[Munich-Riem Airport]] in [[Munich]], [[West Germany]]. The aircraft was carrying the [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] [[association football|football]] team, nicknamed the "[[Busby Babes]]", along with supporters and journalists.<ref>{{cite video |year=1958 |title=Video: Britain Mourns. Soccer Champs Die In Plane Crash, 1958/02/10 (1958) |url=https://archive.org/details/1958-02-10_Britain_Mourns |publisher=[[Universal Newsreel]] |access-date=20 February 2012 }}</ref> There were 44 people on board, 20 of whom died at the scene. The injured, some unconscious, were taken to Munich's [[Rechts der Isar Hospital]], where three more died, resulting in 23 fatalities, with 21 survivors.

The Manchester United team were returning from a [[1957–58 European Cup|European Cup]] match in [[Belgrade]], [[Yugoslavia]] (now [[Serbia]]), having eliminated [[Red Star Belgrade]] to advance to the semi-finals of the competition. The flight stopped to refuel in Munich, because a non-stop flight from Belgrade to Manchester was beyond the range of the "Elizabethan"-class [[Airspeed Ambassador]]. After refuelling, pilots [[James Thain]] and [[Kenneth Rayment]] twice abandoned take-off because of [[Compressor stall|boost surging]] in the left engine. Fearing they would fall too far behind schedule, Thain rejected an overnight stay in Munich in favour of a third take-off attempt. By that time, snow was falling, causing a layer of slush to form at the end of the runway. After hitting the slush, the aircraft ploughed through a fence beyond the end of the runway, and the left wing was torn off when it struck a house. The tail section broke off and hit a barn with a parked fuel truck in it, which caught fire and exploded. Fearing the aircraft might explode, Thain began evacuating passengers, while [[goalkeeper (association football)|goalkeeper]] [[Harry Gregg]] helped pull survivors from the wreckage.

The Manchester United team were returning from a [[1957–58 European Cup|European Cup]] match in [[Belgrade]], [[Yugoslavia]] (now [[Serbia]]), having eliminated [[Red Star Belgrade]] to advance to the semi-finals of the competition. The flight stopped to refuel in Munich, because a non-stop flight from Belgrade to Manchester was beyond the range of the "Elizabethan"-class [[Airspeed Ambassador]]. After refuelling, pilots [[James Thain]] and [[Kenneth Rayment]] twice abandoned take-off because of [[Compressor stall|boost surging]] in the left engine. Fearing they would fall too far behind schedule, Thain rejected an overnight stay in Munich in favour of a third take-off attempt. By that time, snow was falling, causing a layer of slush to form at the end of the runway. After hitting the slush, the aircraft ploughed through a fence beyond the end of the runway, and the left wing was torn off when it struck a house. The tail section broke off and hit a barn with a parked fuel truck in it, which caught fire and exploded. Fearing the aircraft might explode, Thain began evacuating passengers, while [[goalkeeper (association football)|goalkeeper]] [[Harry Gregg]] helped pull survivors from the wreckage.